11 Tips on Lowering Shopping Cart Abandonment

"The art to overcoming shopping cart abandonment, there by increasing your sales!"

This article contains 11 tips that can be used to overcome shopping cart abandonment, which in turn can increase your sales rate.

Tip 1: Check the number of steps in your checkout process
It has been noticed that whether you have one step or ten steps in the checkout process, it doesn’t matter at all. Surveying has proved that when a visitor has identified what needs to be purchased, they are going to purchase regardless of the number of steps involved.

Tip 2: Include a Progress Indicator
Even if the checkout process has ten steps, it is important to keep your buyer informed as to which part of the checkout process are they in. This can be achieved with a Progress Indicator that is fixed on each checkout page. Example: Step 1 of 10.

Tip 3: Provide a backlink to the product/service page
When the visitor places an item in the shopping cart, then do make sure that a backlink is provided to the product/service page. In this way you will allow the visitor to be reaffirmed that they have purchased the right item.

Tip 4: Add thumbnail pictures inside the shopping basket
By just adding a backlink to the product/service page within the checkout process, you can reduce the abandonment rate considerably. Additionally, by adding a small thumbnail of the product/service purchased, you can increase the conversions to sales as much as 16%.

Tip 5: Highlight the Shipping Cost
It is great if you can estimate the shipping cost while your visitor is browsing your site. When your visitor has decided that he would like to purchase, then the total cost plays a critical role. Also, if the shipping information is similar to the billing information, then provide a checkbox so that your visitor can tick instead of filling it up once again.

Tip 6: Stock Availability
Your visitor needs to know if the product/service that they are purchasing is in stock or not. It would be detrimental to your website if your visitor goes through the entire checkout process to only identify that the product/service purchased is not in stock.

Tip 7: Make the shopping cart editable by the shopper
Ensure that the shoppers shopping cart can be edited. In case the shopper wants to change the size, it should be possible and the shopper does not have to start from scratch. The shopper should find it easy to change the order quantities and also to delete items from the shopping cart.

Tip 8: Let the shopper know that you are real
It’s normally at the time of checkout that the shopper’s alarms start to flare beep. Provide enough of information about your company by providing the complete contact information.
A testimonial that is provided at the checkout process can surely boost the confidence levels of the shopper.

Tip 9: Give the shopper the option to call
If your shopper is experiencing a problem during the checkout process or is not comfortable with the checkout process, do provide them with an option where they can call and place the order through phone. You can also provide your shopper with a fax order so that the order can be completed by fax.

Tip 10: Use Third Party Reinforcement Messages
You can increase the conversion rates by placing a HackerSafe, VeriSign, Paypal Verified or BBB logos. These logos will surely reinforce the confidence in the shopper to shop from your website which in turn increases your conversion rates.

Tip 11: Keep the payment options open
Let your website have multiple payment options like Paypal, Google Checkout, echeck, Wire Transfer, Western Union etc, so that your shoppers can choose a payment method that is convenient for them.